CPSIA Update: Oh, Was That the NAM’s Position?

Marla Felcher, an adjunct professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, has written extensively about product safety. She said the National Association of Manufacturers and other powerful business groups fought the bill to overhaul product-safety law and give the commission more muscle.

In short, Felcher is part of the “consumer activist” machine that brought us the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, legislation that has ruined small and home-based businesses, eliminated children’s books from libraries and bookstores, led to numerous thrift stores removing children’s clothes and toys and board games from their shelves, and stopped the sale of tens of millions of dollars worth of recreational vehicles. None of this context was in The State’s story

The NAM supported increasing the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s staffing and budget, as you can see here and here. The NAM also had serious objections to the lead limits, the quick timelines for implementation, the expansion of enforcement authority to state attorneys general, and other provisions. We objected to the things that have proved to be disastrous.

Of course we’d be happy to explain that to any reporter who bothered to call.